eating before training

[naama_seri1]

does it make sense to wake up at 02.00 AM, to eat, and go back to bed
to prepare for training early in the morning. I know that 4 hours gap is recomended? Or is it harmful rather then helpful?

[MightyMitre]

does it make sense to wake up at 02.00 AM, to eat, and go back to bed...?

Does it make sense???? Anything involving waking at 2 AM sounds totally crazy to me. :p BTW - I find trying to wake up at 7.30 am to go to work a challange most days as I like my bed. ;)

A lot of the British cycling scene involves time trialling, with some of the first riders off as early as 6 am in mid summer, when the roads are nice and quiet, so eating at that time of day before putting in a some very hard effort is a challenge to get the balance between enough fuel for the body, but not so much as to make it uncomfortable to ride.

If you're just doing regular training as opposed to an actual event,then some people just have a drink before training, and eat afterwards as they don't like a full stomach. Personally I can't train well unless I've eaten something , so for an early morning start I try and have something fairly bland, like toast with honey.

As far as not eating 4 hours before riding - I'm not sure I'd agree with that. Depending on the size of the meal and the planned intensity of the training session I'd leave an hour , but if I left it 4 hours I'd be hungry even before I started training. :p However, everyone is different so why not try experimenting with what works best. I'd be interested to hear the results. :)

Anyway, back to bed now.....zzzzzz

[nuthatch]

Just from the total novice standpoint, I've been getting up at 5:00 each morning to ride the trainer and I eat a small amount right before I ride (like half an energy bar and a cup of tea). I seem to ride better - it's like that little bit of food wakes up my metabolism but doesn't bog down the bloodflow. I'm with MM - getting up at 2 sounds extreme for us bed lovers!